Now that the weather has become nicer, I started running again. Last season, I sustained injuries so I am very careful this year. Here is advice from Dr. Rahul Kapur, a sports medicine physician at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine:
Mix up your activities
If you want to avoid an injury, Dr. Kapur recommends mixing in exercises to strengthen your core, hips, and quadriceps. These areas help stabilize the knee to avoid runner’s knee and stress fractures. When any of these areas are weak, it can lead to imbalanced running, where you’re compensating for weakness by putting stress on other areas.”
Watch your mileage
Runners who try to log more than 40 miles per week tend to be most at risk for injuries, especially stress fractures, says Dr. Kapur. He says it’s best to stay under 40 miles a week, but cross-train — perhaps with biking or swimming — to maintain conditioning.
Listen to your body
Dr. Kapur says, “Know when it’s time to run or rest. That could mean tapering your running routine or sitting out until the next race. If you have to pass on a race or training run before the big one, it’s not a sense of failure, it’s a sense of delayed gratification.”
Common injuries:
Shin Splints
Also called medial tibial stress syndrome, it’s a pain in the front of the shin where the bone and muscle come together. This could be from inflammation or the prelude to a stress fracture.
Stress Fracture
A break in the lower leg bone, hip bone, knee bone, or any other important bone necessary for running.
Foot And Ankle Injury
Any injury in the toes, arch, or tendons of the feet and ankles.
Runner’s Knee
The kneecap is rubbing against the other structures, not tracking properly when bending and straightening.
I have had shin splints and they can ruin your ability to run for a few months. I agree with the advice, especially “Listen to your body.” If you think you may be developing shin splints, take a break for a few days and stretch and maybe ice your legs.